


Love is a Smelly Tapestry

by thelaziesthufflepuff



Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: Costume Parties & Masquerades, M/M, OR IS IT, aka the masquerade ball au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-04
Updated: 2014-10-04
Packaged: 2018-02-19 20:56:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2402603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thelaziesthufflepuff/pseuds/thelaziesthufflepuff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Keigo meets his oddest party guest to date.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Love is a Smelly Tapestry

**Author's Note:**

> Written for argyros on tumblr! She wanted AtoTez masquerade ball au! (also happy birthday atobe keigo may you stay happy forever)

The mansion staff had outdone themselves tonight, Keigo thought. The hall was absolutely resplendent, chandelier lights polished in their radiance, emitting soft glows of golden light that cloaked the room with intimacy. What was more appropriate than this, he mused to himself, delicately sipping at his champagne, intimate settings with total strangers, a night free from expectations and inhibitions. He made sure, as much as possible, to disguise himself as carefully as possible. He refrained from wearing his purple suit with feather boa and silver crown, instead choosing to wear a black pinstriped suit, cut to perfection (Armani, with gold cufflinks). He needed to remain anonymous for tonight- after all, what was the point of a masquerade ball if everyone already knew who he was? What a preposterous idea. If he was to be left in the dark regarding the identities of his conversation partners, he made sure they were in the same boat.

People also tended to have looser tongues when talking to a stranger who they would never hear from after tonight, rather than the heir of Atobe Corp, who stood to inherit nearly half the world’s riches. Knowledge is power; and it comes in different forms, from words delicately spoken across a pillow at night, to rowdy employees drinking after a hard day’s work, to leaked company portfolios that cost him millions in investments, forcing Keigo to host this masquerade ball to sniff out the perpetrators. There is only so much he can do without proof; he needs evidence, he needs people to let their guards down around him, he needs to know if there was only one person leaking company secrets, or god forbid- an entire organization of termites in his kingdom, eating it hollow from the inside.

He spots Oshitari in the corner, with Mukahi and judging by how busy their lips are glued to each other like Siamese twins, there is not much investigating going on. He despairs.

He mingles. He makes polite conversation, wearing charm like a second skin, and he soon has his audience eating out of his hand, but even that loses its joy as the hours drag on, and he gets no closer to finding out –anything- that could help him.

Then he spots a lump behind a tapestry. A human-shaped lump.

He walks unhurriedly there, casually holding his glass of champagne, looking like he would like to take a simple breather after talking so much, willing his body not to betray his anticipation (at last, he thinks, something unusual is happening, something has finally changed-)

In one swift motion, he pulls the tapestry away from the wall. He expects to be punched; maybe the person will push him down and run away, betraying his guilt; or he could have interrupted a steamy tryst and got invited to join in-

What he gets is a pair of brown eyes blinking owlishly at him, framed by a mask lined in topaz, as they adjust to the sudden light, and a terse “excuse me, do you mind?” in a lovely baritone coming from an even lovelier mouth. He takes a closer look at this suspicious lump, who has artfully tousled brown hair (it looks soft, he thinks, the strands turning into a brilliant gold under the light), cheekbones he would like to like poke and pursed lips he wouldn't mind kissing, paired with a slender neck and legs that seem to go on forever, and tells himself that it’s for his company that he sidles right next to the man, brushing his right shoulder against his left, uncaring of the outraged look he got.

“So do you come here often?” Keigo smiles, one he has practiced many times before and it has never failed him.

He gets a dry look in reply; even with the mask, he is pretty sure that the other man just raised one of his eyebrows at him. Keigo waits patiently for him to elaborate, while the other man seems to be waiting just as patiently for him to leave. Pity for him then, because Keigo is as stubborn as they come, and if he needs to stand beside a gorgeous man behind a smelly tapestry all night for him to say more than five words, then he is going to do so. Not like he has anything better to do, other than sniff out a potential mole in his company. Which this man could be, his brain mentions helpfully, which is all the more reason to keep a very close eye on him.

All for the sake of his company of course. Billions of dollars are riding on his success.

The man, clearly realising that Keigo is real and not a nightmarish apparition likely to disappear anytime soon, lets out a tiny sigh and turns his head slightly. He takes a deep breath before beginning to speak, “I am here because I have to be here, it is compulsory for me. And I obviously do not want to be here,” rolling his eyes in the direction of the tapestry covering them, “I drank a bit so I can’t drive home, and my partner is supposed to be here with me but he’s busy at the moment, so I’m stuck here until he remembers I exist and picks me up.”

“So there.” He adds lamely. He probably doesn't talk much, Keigo thinks, and what a pity, for his voice is melodious.

“Well that is lucky for me then, because now I get to meet you instead. And what is wrong with this party, the food is great and so is the atmosphere, and you get to meet new people.” Keigo punctuates his last words by sliding even closer to him, the lines of their body pressed close, leg to hip to shoulder, his eyes never leaving that lovely face.

“I don’t like parties. Also you are very pushy.” He does not move away despite his words, and Keigo counts that as a win.

“Are you married?” He doesn't sleep with married people as a rule; there is too much baggage involved, and things can get ugly very fast. Things his father had taught him through example.

“-What?”

“Do you have someone waiting for you back home? Oh wait you said your partner was busy- do you want a little company?”

“Why? Do you have one to sell?” The other man replies with a perfectly straight face.

They stare at each other for a long while, but Keigo cracks first, laughter bubbling in his gut and rushing through his veins, spilling from his lips. The other man has an answering smile, it is tiny but present. Even in the dim light, there is no mistaking the pleased look in his eyes.

He hears a ‘beep’ from a phone, and the man takes it out to check for messages.

“My partner will be here shortly. It was… nice meeting you.” His words are polite, but Keigo spots the wry turn of his lips and knows that he’s being made fun of, yet he can’t bring himself to mind too much.

 

He looks at least a hundred times handsomer with a smile.

 

Married, he reminds himself firmly. At the very least engaged. Not worth the trouble.

 

He just has to repeat that to himself until he believes it.

 

(Keigo looks at him from the corner of his eyes; it would be so easy, to cross the negligible distance between their bodies, to ravish him against the wall, to fall in love over morning coffee and waffles.

  
But he has a company with a mole leaking secrets, and he needs to focus on that. Not an almost-affair with a near-stranger.)

**Author's Note:**

> Leave kudos or comments if liked!


End file.
